Dawn Primarolo: Legislation to prevent companies making arrangements in order to obtain corporation tax relief in the UK for losses of a company established outside of the UK will be introduced in the Finance Bill 2006. The legislation will apply to claims for loss relief by UK resident companies, and UK branches of companies which are not UK resident, and will deny loss relief in the UK where there are arrangements which either result in losses becoming unrelievable outside the UK that were otherwise relievable, or give rise to unrelievable losses which would not have arisen but for the availability of relief in the UK, if the main purpose or one of the main purposes of those arrangements is to obtain UK relief.
	The legislation will have effect from 20 February 2006. A Press Notice issued by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on that date giving the relevant background to, and further detail on, this measure was deposited in the Libraries of both Houses on 20 February 2006 and is also accessible on HMRC's website.

John Healey: I am pleased to tell the House that the Government's Tax Law Rewrite project will soon reach another major milestone. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs will shortly publish a draft of the project's fourth Bill, the Income Tax Bill, which will in practice complete the rewrite of income tax. More specifically, it covers the core provisions of income tax, the mechanics of the tax computation and a variety of reliefs and other provisions. It is planned to introduce the Bill in Parliament by the end of 2006. The project's three previous Bills were enacted as the Capital Allowances Act 2001, the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 and the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005.
	Earlier versions of the legislation in this new Bill have been revised in the light of comments and suggestions from tax professionals and other interested parties. There has been extensive dialogue on them between the project team and business interests, tax practitioners, the legal profession and HMRC specialists.

Gordon Brown: At its meeting of 14 February 2006 the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) adopted Opinions on the Stability Programmes of Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria and on the Convergence Programmes of Estonia, Latvia and Slovenia.
	ECOFIN discussed the Commission's annual progress report on the Lisbon agenda and held a first debate on the ECOFIN Key Issues Paper for the Spring European Council.
	The Council discussed the role the European Investment Bank can play in promoting jobs and growth.
	ECOFIN examined a Report from the Economic Policy Committee on the impact of ageing populations on the sustainability of public expenditure and agreed Council Conclusions on the basis of that report.
	ECOFIN was de-briefed on a Conference held on 6–7 February to discuss VAT fraud issues.
	The Council was briefed on a forthcoming Conference on innovative methods of financing for development.
	The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, represented the UK.

Hearing the Relatives of Murder and Manslaughter Victims

Tessa Jowell: On 21 February 2006, the Football Association (FA) confirmed that the venue of the 2006 FA Cup Final will be the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff rather than, as everyone had hoped, Wembley Stadium.
	Although Multiplex, the builders, are working hard to finish Wembley Stadium as quickly as possible, it is the FA's judgement that the risk that it may not be ready to host the Final itself is just too great. I therefore welcome the FA's decision to put in place now a firm arrangement on which fans can plan and avoid any further speculation or uncertainty.
	Wembley Stadium is a huge and complex project; it will be the best stadium in the world and a great piece of construction engineering.
	Millions of people will enjoy Wembley Stadium and the whole country will take pride in it.

Hilary Benn: In my written statement of 12 December, I set out the Government's commitment to ensuring that the pledges on Africa and development made at the G8 Summit at Gleneagles in July are implemented. The Gleneagles Implementation Plan for Africa consists of the milestones that the Government believe need to be achieved, and I indicated that we would update this plan on a monthly basis. I am placing a copy of the first update in the Libraries. This highlights progress made against the milestones set for December and January, and also incorporates new milestones that have been adopted by the international community.
	All the milestones for December and January have been achieved, with the exception of the implementation of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative by the African Development Bank (AfDB). This is now expected by July and the AfDB will apply debt relief retrospectively to January 2006. As expected the International Monetary Fund (IMF) implemented this Initiative in January, and the World Bank will be implementing it in July.
	EU Heads of Government agreed a new EU strategic partnership with Africa at the European Council in December. This provides a framework to guide Europe's activities as it increases its support to the continent.
	The World Trade Organisation Ministerial in Hong Kong in December did not achieve as much as the Government would have wished. However, it did agree a deadline of 2013 for the elimination of agricultural export subsidies, and that developed countries should provide quota and duty free access to their markets for most products (97 per cent.) from Least Developed Countries by 2008. Substantial new funds were also pledged to build developing countries' capacity to trade, including £100 million a year by 2010 from the UK.
	The United Nations Peace Building Commission was established and the UK has been elected as a member. The United Nations Convention Against Corruption entered into force on 14 December, following ratification by 30 countries. The UK has sent its instrument of ratification to the UN on 30 January and ratified it on 9 February. A new Global Plan to Stop Tuberculosis was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
	My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who attended the Forum, confirmed the Government's strong support for this Plan.
	Two future milestones have been adjusted. The first is the bonds for the International Financing Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) which are now likely to be launched in April rather than February, due to delays in finalising the legal documents with donors. The second is the Central Emergency Revolving Fund which is now expected to be launched in March, rather than February.